Senate panel nixes anti-leak measures

12/22/12 10:24 AM EST

The Senate Intelligence Committee agreed Friday to drop several controversial anti-leak measures in an effort to clear the way for passage of the 2013 Intelligence Authorization Act.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) voted against the measure in the Intelligence Committee earlier this year and placed a hold on floor action on the bill because of concerns that the anti-leak sections had not been adequately considered and could disrupt the flow of information to the public.

"I objected to these provisions because in my view they would [have] harmed First Amendment rights have led to less-informed public debate about national security issues, and also undermined the due process rights of intelligence agency employees, without actually enhancing national security," Wyden said Friday in a floor statement released by his office.

The anti-leak legislation would have banned background or off-the-record briefings of the media except for those conducted by the most senior officials in an agency, required reporting of all media contacts to agencies and the Congress, and allowed the government to strip the pensions of those found to have breached their obligations to protect classified information, even when the breach did not result in a criminal conviction.

"In order to secure passage of the Intelligence Committee's fourth authorization bill in four years, members of the committee have agreed to remove provisions regarding the unauthorized disclosure of intelligence information (i.e., leaks)," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement. "Since the committee considered legislation in this area late this spring, Director of National Intelligence [James] Clapper has initiated a number of steps to improve detection and investigation of leaks that dovetail with our provisions. I intend to continue to work with Director Clapper and consider legislation in the future to prevent the disclosure of sensitive intelligence sources and methods and other classified information.”

While the anti-leak measures had the support of nearly everyone on the Senate committee and the corresponding House panel, senior intelligence officials in the Obama administration had expressed some concerns about the measures' effectiveness. And some senators not on the intelligence panel were concerned about the proposals, which never had a public hearing.

"I commend the authors of this bill for eliminating the provisions in the original legislation that would have undermined the freedom of the press," Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement Friday. "The public’s right to know is a cornerstone of our American democracy, and a free and vibrant press ensures that every citizen has access to information about what their government is doing....The individuals who perpetrate these improper disclosures should be punished. But we must always balance the need to deter leaks of sensitive information with the need to protect the public’s right to know."

Advocates for open government and freedom of the press hailed the development.

"It's a good win for the First Amendment," said Rick Blum of the Sunshine in Government Initiative, a coalition of groups which opposed the measures. "I think that the proposals as written just had too much of an impact on news reporting....Reproters are very concerned about disclosing information that harms national security. But it came down to these proposals just went too far."

But Blum warned that such measures are almost certain to be proposed again next year.

"I don't think this is the end of the story. I don't think the issue's settled," he said.